Michael Kownacky

We’ll have an afternoon of Falstaffs on this week’s Sunday Opera (9/27 3:00 p.m.) in a production from LA-Opera of Verdi's opera followed by Gordon Getty's "Plump Jack" based on three plays by Shakespeare, and a piece of programatic music by Hugo Hauk.

While excavating a pile of paper that has remained untouched for far too long, we came across an idea for a program which we started some time ago, and we thought it was about time that we presented it, so on this week’s Dress Circle (9/27 7:00 p.m.), we’ll be looking at some title songs, but the catch is that they come from musicals with one-word titles.

We’ve returned to La Scala on this week’s Sunday Opera (9/20 3:00 p.m.) and their recent production of Bizet’s “Carmen.” Initially, the opera was reviled and labeled obscene, but after Bizet’s sudden death at the age of 36 on the night of its 32nd performance, interest grew in the opera, and its initial critics came to see it as the masterpiece that Tchaikovsky declared it to be.

Break out your dancing shoes because this week’s Dress Circle (9/20 7:00 p.m.) is celebrating National Dance Day. This “dance” program isn’t featuring actual dances per se; It’s looking at songs from musicals about dance including dance as a metaphor for life and living.

We’ve been moving all around Europe recently, and on this week’s Sunday Opera (9/13 3:00 p.m.), we’re returning to Milan for a recent production of Gaetano Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor.” Following "Lucia" will be the world premiere recording of a Donizetti one-act opera, "Aristea."

During a recent medical procedure that involved anesthesia, Michael came up with a brilliant idea for this week’s Dress Circle (6/13 7:00 p.m.). We never program a “Labor Day” program because the Sunday of that weekend is generally the first Sunday, so we default to our monthly feature looking at shows that opened in September. Through the dim haze of waking up, Michael thought, “What comes after Labor Day?” The response came quickly and with great clarity: After Labor Day comes “Baby Day”! For some reason Ted wanted to run with that idea, so we’re bringing you a program of “baby” songs from the musicals showcasing a wide variety of “babies.”

Johann Strauss’ “Die Fledermaus”? … and it isn’t anywhere near New Year’s Eve! We are, however, going to Vienna for a recent production of this beloved favorite on this week’s Sunday Opera (9/6 3:00 p.m.).

As usual, we’re showcasing some of the musicals that opened this month on this week’s Dress Circle (9/6 7:00 p.m.). Since there hasn’t been a new musical open since 2020, we thought we’d do something a little different. We’re still looking at overtures and opening numbers, but this time, we’re focusing on eight operettas.

The age-old story of boy gets girl, boy loses girl, and boy poisons girl is featured on this week’s Sunday Opera (8/30 3:00 p.m.) in Giuseppe Verdi’s “Luisa Miller” in a production from the Vienna State Opera.

Many of us grew up with the soothing songs of Burt Bacharach who has been called “The King of Easy Listening.” At the time of his passing in 2023, he had amassed 73 Top 40 hits in the U.S. and 52 in the United Kingdom. His songs also appeared in eight productions on Broadway as well as in 772 film and television soundtracks, and on this week’s Dress Circle (8/30 7:00 p.m.) we’re going to sample just a few of them.